Upside / Downside

[Bigbluebrotha]

Good news that Charlotte and Richmond will play for the tourney title tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. on ESPN 2 if anyone is interested.

Richmond came back from way down in the first half, outscored Dayton 34 to 16 in the second half. The Flyers looked to have run out of gas. Shells for Richmond is fantastic to watch, plays with a lot of heart and was a big part of the comeback.

Charlotte swamped Temple from the get go.

The good news here is our ladies will a solid win over the eventual tourney champ. Also now they'll have a couple days extra rest and that will be important for taking care of the nicks, scrapes, bumps, bruises and pulls that go with enduring a season.

On the downside, I hope this team hasn't lost interest. Losing two of the last three after putting together such a great season to this point is a bit worrisome to me. Hard to place a source of origin on the recent decline other than the age old question of heart.

Also, the UD loss knocked them out of the Top 25 in the RPI for the moment which makes them vulnerable for the 8 to 10 seed range and could get them shipped somewhere outside the immediate region. There are a couple of West Coast sites that might assure the ladies of a one and done. It would be a huge challenge traveling out there.

Would think that a Charlotte win would bump the RPI up a bit.

The team has played itself into a tenuous situation, I hope it can play it's way out. They've really done too much great work this season to have it all wasted at the end.

Ladies, if you're reading this, work hard in the time you have before the tournament and make this season more special than it's already been.

LET'S GO X! LET'S GO X! LET'S GO X!

[FLXFAN]

I think the ladies will come home and regroup. They worked the entire season without Harris and I think the difference right now is they are down Alesia Barringer. WHile she didn't post big numbers in the box score I think she gave them good quality play and had a significant role in the defense. They just need to find a way to get past that. They've done some great things this year and they just need to refocus and get ready for the next step.

Let's go X!!

[Bigbluebrotha]

I love AB, her attitude and style of play, but I think the problem is a little deeper than just missing her in the rotation. Listening in the other day, the ladies left some people wide open from 3-point range and were outrebounded.

Doesn't happen often, but it's happening at the wrong time, as in 2 of the last 3 games. I did see Ta'shia's quote that there were a lot of long rebounds in that Dayton game that the posts didn't get to. She also said she knows XU is the better team, but knowing it and playing like it are different things.

Checking the bracket prediction today, college rpi has the ladies as a 5 seed in Seattle playing Villanova then the winner of Tennessee / Montana.

That's a long trip and historically the ladies haven't responded well to those - reference Texas 2 years ago. The good news is the staff would at least be familiar with the Nova's style of play from the WNIT a couple years back and Tennessee isn't its powerhouse self.

Both games are winnable for our troops, but the travel part will take some steam out of the engine.